I'd gladly sit down with the Member and the proponents of the Canadian Natural Gas Proposal, whatever their legal entity name is, and the people who want to discuss it, and look at opportunities for the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as a follow-up to my Member's statement, I have a few questions for the Minister of Infrastructure. I'd like to ask the Minister: what is the current status of the department's work on the Willow River Bridge and all-weather road project? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We've worked diligently with the community of Aklavik on this road and bridge project for the Richardson Mountains. They've accessed the CAP funding since 2011, and they do have a new proposal in right now to the department that's having a look at it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Has the Minister prioritized the Willow River bridge in his infrastructure planning?
If it's through the CAP program, that's an application that's on a first-come-first-served basis, and I think the community of Aklavik has done very well on it. As for the longer federal infrastructure plan, we're going to be signing our bilateral year pretty soon, hopefully in the next month or so with the federal Minister, and those types of programs are still being worked out; but I think there are plenty of opportunities for communities within the new infrastructure funding that's coming to the Northwest Territories over the next 10 years.
What will the Minister do to help his partners in the Mackenzie Delta complete the Willow River bridge and all-weather road project?
The department always has ongoing discussions with the people of Aklavik who have applied for this funding. There are ongoing engineering and technical challenges that need to be worked out, and the department is working with them. As I've said, the CAP funding is on a first-come-first-served basis, and the community has done very well on it, and we're looking at if we're going to be able to fund them this year as well.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned in my statement, I'll have questions for the Minister of Infrastructure. My first question is: why is there overlap between the work done on climate change between Departments of Infrastructure and Natural Resources and Finance? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our department, Infrastructure, we're working on our 2030 Energy Strategy, but it is linked specifically to the NWT Climate Change Strategic Framework. We are working together with us, ENR, and the Department of Finance to ensure consistency between all the strategies moving forward that are being developed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thanks to the Minister for the answer. My next question is: what is the government doing to help the NWT move to a lower-carbon economy?
We believe that transitioning to a strong, healthy economy that is less reliant on diesel fuel is to the benefit of all residents and communities in the Northwest Territories. To secure sustainable sources of energy, we will help to stabilize the cost of living as we move forward, as the new technologies come along and as the new infrastructure money rolls out. That is why we have developed our 2030 energy strategy that I have talked about, which we have engaged with communities to find solutions and set long-term targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for the Northwest Territories, from electrical generation, heating, transportation. These are all going to be laid out in our strategy when we table it, but it also has in there how do we increase efficiencies from not only our own buildings but within communities, and how do we help address industry emissions, as well. So all of these things are going to help us meet our national climate change objectives.
Thanks to the Minister for that clarification and moving-forward statement. My next question is: this 2030 is a long-term vision, but what is the government going to do in the immediate future to address the high cost of energy in our small communities while creating jobs for Northerners?
As I have said, we are going to be tabling our 2030 energy strategy pretty soon, but that has the long-term vision, to 2030. We are going to be rolling out a three-year action plan for this session or this Assembly going forward so we have something to work on, which will be released this spring. In that action plan, we will have details, specific details, of the actions that we are going to take, the infrastructure money that is needed to accomplish this. We have six strategic objectives that we want to complete in that, but we are still negotiating our bilateral agreements, which this strategy is going to be using this funding for. Some of the specifics that we have in there over the immediate time, what we are going to do: we are talking about doing a large-scale windmills in Inuvik as one of the ones that we want to move forward right away; transmission lines, as I talked about in the House yesterday. The other fund that is coming forward is the low-carbon economy fund, and that is a different pot of money, outside the infrastructure one, and that is one of the ones of great importance, I think, to the residents of the Northwest Territories. It is aimed at the Arctic Energy Alliance, and, hopefully when we sign off on that bilateral, we will be able to help the Arctic Energy Alliance, give them more money but also to help us meet our greenhouse gas emissions and stuff in the communities.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am glad to hear the Minister had mentioned there is a fund available here. That leads me to my final question: the residents of the Sahtu would like to know what investments this government will commit to making in our communities? Mahsi.
The government is committed to investing in all of the communities in the Northwest Territories, but, in particular in the Sahtu, we have completed a biomass heating which was installed in the schools in Tulita and Fort Good Hope last year; we hope to expand the wood pellet use in the Sahtu region; we have the wind monitoring that will be getting under way very soon in Norman Wells, as that is one of the sites that has the potential to put a windmill in there; we have solar still being considered for a number of communities in the Sahtu; and I think there is some considerable potential that could be put on the Bear River for hydro potential, but that is something we would have to look at long-term. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister responsible for Public Engagement and Transparency, and they are with regard to the public engagement and transparency portal website. There is some confusion or inconsistency in terms of how ministerial meetings are classified. While I believe that the registry is a good first step, the deficiencies I outlined in my Member's statement really limit the value of this work. First of all, is the Minister aware of inconsistencies in classifying the type of ministerial meetings, and is he prepared to work with Regular MLAs to make improvement? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister responsible for Public Engagement and Transparency.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have been reporting on all Ministers' meetings with outside parties since April 2015, and, prior to that, the Premier had previously published a report of all of his meetings with outside parties, going back to January 2014, so this registry has been in effect for some time. Of course, staff in each Minister's office is responsible for entering and verifying the information that is published. Now, the information that goes into that registry is the date of the meeting, name of organization, parties in attendance, lead Minister and other attending Ministers, and type of meetings. Now, the type of meetings seem to fall into two categories, those with interest groups and intergovernmental, which perhaps do not provide as much information as the Member opposite would like. Certainly, we would be willing to look at improvements to that system.
It is great to get such a positive response from the Minister. I am happy to chat with him when we have a little bit of down time around this. In terms of listing ministerial meetings, there is a column about who the meeting was held with. Sometimes names of individuals are mentioned; other times, an organization only. There seems to be room for improvement and better consistency. Is the Minister prepared to review this aspect of the meeting registry and work with Regular MLAs to improve the registry itself?
Yes. Prior to this afternoon, I did look through the registry, and I did notice that earlier on sometimes just individuals were listed or sometimes just organizations. I did notice of late that individuals and organizations were listed, and I think that is quite appropriate and proper.
Again, I would like to thank the Minister for agreeing to improve the registry, but the single most important thing is that there is a lack of any information on the purpose or content of the meetings. Obviously, some elements of confidentiality must be maintained, but simply giving a name under the heading "telephone call" does not provide much information on the nature of our Ministers' activities in this consensus government. Will the Minister work with Regular MLAs to develop criteria for providing more informative listings that describe the general subjects of such meetings to promote greater transparency?
Certainly, I would be willing to discuss this with the Regular Members and bring their concerns to Cabinet. I am not certain what kind of improvements are being contemplated, whether it would place too much of a burden on staff to have a very lengthy description of what took place in the meetings. I suppose that would be possible, but that would impose, as I say, an additional burden on staff. I do agree, having really only two designations of interest group or intergovernmental should certainly be improved, but I would certainly be looking for suggestions from Members opposite as to how that category could be improved. Thank you.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister again. I heard the word "burden" mentioned several times, and that is not what I am interested in creating. I am interested in creating transparency. This government, though, has resisted calls for creation of a lobbyist registry. In the post-devolution NWT, there is a lot more at stake, of course. If we had such a registry, we would know whose interests are being represented and have a better idea why meetings are taking place. Will the Minister take transparency and accountability to the next level and work with Regular MLAs and the public to create a Northwest Territories lobbyist registry? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Having a formal lobbyist registry would require costs to enact new legislation, and we are a small jurisdiction. I have looked at other jurisdictions, and the other jurisdictions in the North do not have a lobbyist registry, nor does the province of Prince Edward Island. I think a formal registry would be overly cumbersome and unnecessary in our jurisdiction.
One of the questions that does occur to me about a lobbyist registry or a reporting registry that we already have, I have been looking at other jurisdictions and wondering why the Regular Members do not report. Thank you.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation. Mr. Speaker, the Housing Corporation's budget that we were debating in the main estimates is going to decrease in this fiscal year, yet the action plan the Minister has produced says that there will be spending of $20 million in the next fiscal year. My question is: where is that money from the action plan going to come from and when? Thank you.
Masi. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At this point, actually, I do not know exactly where all of the allocations are coming from. Because it is really technical asking me about finances and I don't have that on hand, I will have to take notice of the question. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. The question has been taken as notice. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today there was a public hearing with the Information and Privacy Commissioner, and it brought to my mind the long-required need to bring about new access to information and privacy protection legislation in this building. We are still working off of the original legislation that came about in 1996. A lot has changed since then. I would like to ask the Minister of Justice: what progress is being made on updating ATIPP legislation? Thank you.
Masi. Minister of Justice.
Yes, Mr. Speaker. We are working on updating the ATIPP information, and certainly it is important. There were many suggestions made as to how it could be improved, and we are dedicated to improving that piece of legislation. Thank you.
Does the Minister have any timelines that he can inform the House of when this legislation is anticipated to come forward?
Yes. We are engaging and have been engaging with various communities and governments with respect to this legislation, and I hope to be bringing forward legislation this year.
I suppose it is too much to ask for specificity on when the Minister will bring it forward, but I want to ask about another subject. Related to this work is Access by Design or Privacy by Design. Is the Minister doing any work to ensure we are designing government projects and government legislation with Privacy by Design in mind? Has any work been undertaken on that aspect?
We are, of course, very cognizant of our responsibilities under ATIPP and other privacy legislations, so I would hope that all legislation is looked at through that lens.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is the Minister of Hope. He often hopes when we raise questions to him, but can the Minister commit to do more than hope and actually do some work to put a public policy lens? Like we do with gender-based analysis and like we do with Indigenous rights analysis, can he put a Privacy by Design lens on policy proposals? Let's narrow the focus, Mr. Speaker. Can he put a privacy lens on Cabinet submissions? Thank you.
